Ethiopia Yirgacheffe - Banko Gotiti
Fair Trade, Natural Process, Family Owned
Blueberry, Plum, Syrupy
This is an outstanding Fair Trade Ethiopian Yirgacheffe offering wonderful blueberry tones.
This lot comes from a group of family owned farms in Southern Ethiopia.
These farms are organized around the Banko Gotiti Cooperative located in the village of Banko Gotiti.
The Fair Trade Certification guarantees that a premium price will be paid to the farmers, regardless of market conditions. This effectively provides them with a 'living wage.'
General Flavor Observations
Ethiopia Yirgacheffe - Banko Gotiti
The aroma of this Ethiopian Yirgacheffe provides nice notes of vanilla and tropical scents.
The overall mouth feel is silky smooth, with prominent notes of blueberry, surrounded by more subtle tones of plum and chocolate. The finish is clean with a soft acidity.
The body is medium, and the general profile is definitely fruit forward.
While I found the fruit will vary depending on the roast level chosen, in general, you will find the predominant fruit to be blueberry.
The lighter roasts will highlight the blueberry fruit qualities, while the darker roasts will bring about more of a plum-like fruit.
The cup is clean, sweet, and has a nice depth and smoothness.
In short, this is a quality Ethiopian Yirgacheffe with great blueberry tones.
Roast Level Profile Notes
Ethiopia Yirgacheffe - Banko Gotiti
Ethiopian Naturals can have a wonderful complexity about them, and it is for this reason I have selected
Full City for our default roast level.
However, I can wholeheartedly recommend
Full City (+) as well.
We are always happy to accommodate any roast level you prefer.
The notes below illustrate how changing the roast level will alter the profile:
City Roast (light roast)
As always, this is the choice if you're seeking to experience pure Origin Characteristics.
Brighter acidity, prominent blueberry, and a snappier finish are nicely offset by a mild chocolaty flavor and hints of pastry dough.
Full City Roast (medium roast) - Preferred
The mouth-feel is smooth and silky, with a kind of vanilla sweetness. Notes of blueberry are very apparent and up-front. The finish is soft and lingering, with notes of chocolate.
While similar characteristics are present as with the City roast, the acidity is slightly tempered and the overall mouth-feel is more balanced.
Full City (+) Roast
This is a wonderful roast and will create a more syrupy mouth-feel with deeper fruit tones; somewhere between that of blueberry and plum.
An increased sense of depth emerges, and the acidity is well tempered. Chocolate tones become slightly edgier (like Baker's chocolate), the sweetness more like brown sugar, and the finish is soft yet pointed.
Darker Roasts
Not recommended as the darker roast levels will eclipse the attributes that make this such a wonderful coffee.
Additional Information
Ethiopia Yirgacheffe - Banko Gotiti
This coffee is naturally processed, meaning the ripe coffee cherries are dried in the sun on raised African beds for around 12-15 days.
This sun-drying process allows for sugars in the cherry pulp to transfer into the bean, presenting in the cup as complex fruit flavors. The raised beds also provide airflow to facilitate a consistent drying process.
Once the ideal moisture content is reached, the dried cherries are rested in a cool environment before being hulled, graded, and handpicked prior to export.
Fair Trade - guarantees that a premium price will be paid to the farmers, regardless of market conditions, effectively providing them with a 'living wage.'
Other benefits of Fair Trade include providing electricity to the houses of the farmers, funding for the education of the farmer’s children, improve road construction, and a community library.
- Origin: Southern Ethiopia
- Region: Gedeb District
- Traceable: Small-holder farms
- Cooperative: Banko Gotiti
- Elevation: 5,249 - 7,546 feet
- Process: Full Natural
- Drying: Sun dried on raised beds
- Arabica Varietal: Indigenous heirloom cultivars
- Certifications: Fair Trade
